


Falling Out

by Potato_Being



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Blind Betrayal spoilers, Drabble, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Sanctuary, headcanons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-07-11 04:20:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7028287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potato_Being/pseuds/Potato_Being
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of one-shots surrounding the Sole Survivor and companions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bunker

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be one thing until it either gets too long or there needs to be multiple parts of a specific thing. Mainly because I don't want to make another series right now. Prompts are welcome.

"It is tactically unsound to come near me, soldier." Danse wasn't looking at her. Of course he wasn't. He was stewing in his shame at the bottom of the bunker he refused to leave. Nora ignored his advice and walked over to where he was sitting facing the wall.

"Why?" She didn't touch him or sit next to him, remaining a respectful few feet away.

"I am a synth. I do not know if something will activate and I will cause you harm." Nora snorted at his response.

"Last I checked you've had my back in a hundred firefights and not once did anything go south because of you." She moved to the right, into his peripheral vision. "I came out of a Vault about eight months ago. I don't grasp the hatred for synths, and I don't agree with the Brotherhood turning on you. You're still Danse." She sat down slowly, her back to the wall. "Also I'm not a soldier, haven't been for a long time." She leaned her head against the wall, looking at him.

"Everything I knew was a lie."

"I know."

"Everyone I know wants me dead."

"Incorrect." Danse looked at her incredulously as she sat down. She counted on her fingers.

"There's plenty of people who don't want you dead. Me, for one. Two, Preston Garvey. Three, Piper. Four, Dogmeat-- would you really think Dogmeat's capable of hatred? Five, I'm not going to say Nick is high on the list, but he's not apathetic to you. It's more of a grudging respect."

"The synth detective respects me."

"Last I checked you're both synths. Sorry." Nora said quickly as Danse's face fell, "I know, I know, iffy subject. But look-- most people in Sanctuary, they like you. If not like you, they respect you. If not respect, they know better than to get on my bad side." Nora grinned, taking Danse's hand.

"Your concern is appreciated."

"Hey, look at me." Nora said, and Danse did. "I know this is an issue for you. I know what it's like to wake up and not know what's going on or who you are anymore. To have the proverbial rug ripped out from under you. But you're not alone. You don't have to be alone."

"I deserve to--"

"You don't deserve more bullshit, Danse. No matter what you think, you're not an abomination, you're not an awful thing and you don't deserve to treat yourself like dirt." He turned slightly to face her. "You can come home with me, you know. To Sanctuary."

"It's not safe. If the Brotherhood--"

"The Brotherhood can kiss my ass, and if they try to take you away or kill you there'll be at least five people firing on them. Myself included. The people in Sanctuary know their way around a firefight or a hostage situation. They wouldn't get anywhere near you." Nora pulled Danse's arm and he leaned over, shifting so he sat between her legs, back pressed against her chest. She wrapped her arms around him gently, holding his hands in hers.

"You really believe that."

"Which part? I said a lot of things."

"All of it."

"You're a person, Danse. May not be a flesh-and-blood, strictly-organic, born-from-a-human person, but you have emotions and free will. You bleed, you breathe, you eat and sleep. I think that makes you a person." She rattled off the lists and held him close, letting his head fall into the crook of her neck. He stared up at her awkwardly.

"I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. You've got friends and allies. You're not alone." She smiled at him, planting a light kiss on his forehead. He closed his eyes, body shuddering a bit as he attempted not to cry. It didn't work. Too many emotions, too much stress and the most understanding woman in the whole damn Commonwealth finally broke him down. He grit his teeth, trying not to make a sound and knowing she could see.

"It's going to be all right, Danse. Just let it out, it's going to be fine." Nora's voice was calm and soothing, and he opened his eyes to see her still staring down at him. She ran a hand through his hair gently, letting him shift so he was perpendicular to her, his head resting on her chest as he sobbed.

"Everything is gone. I'm supposed to be a soldier, why is this happening?"

"When Nate came back from his service, he had these wild mood swings. He'd go from happy to angry to sobbing on the floor in no time flat. Your whole world just came down. I think you're allowed to cry."

"How long was he--" Danse hiccuped, "--in the military?"

"Eight years? He came back and decided he'd rather be a stay-at-home dad than get a job again." Nora smiled slightly at the memory. Danse's breathing was evening out, and she looked at him gently. "You feeling better?" Danse opened his mouth to say something and the sobbing returned. He buried his face in her dirty army fatigues, wrapping his arms around her like she'd vanish in an instant.

"Why is this happening?" He asked again.

"Stress, emotional upheaval, again this is okay, it's okay for this to be happening. And don't give me any 'I'm a soldier I should be above this' talk. I heard enough of that when I did my tour."

"And what happened-- after you came back?" The voice was muffled and wavering.

"I decided that there was too much hatred and anger in the world and decided to do some good instead. So I became a lawyer to try and help people."

"You still think that way." He began hiccuping again.

"The Wasteland is a shitty place. Might as well make it a little less shitty, right?"

"Why did Garvey stay here?"

"Because he's worried. We both are. You're our friend. We're not going to just leave you."

"You both stayed here for a week."

"If you're going to blame yourself for our decisions--"

"I kept you from looking for your son. I--"

"Yeah I don't know what I expected. Please, lighten up on the self-blame. Preston and I made the choice to stay."

"Why?" Danse looked up at her.

"Because I love you and Preston cares about you."

"Where is he?"

"He went to Sanctuary for food. He'll be coming back with food, water and Dogmeat for company." Danse smiled as she kissed his forehead again. "We're not leaving you alone."

"I'm not leaving the bunker."

"You realise I'm completely willing to move in with you, right?" Nora laughed.

"I did not realise that, no."

 

Dogmeat bounded in, tail wagging in the middle of the night. Nora and Danse had fallen asleep where they'd been sitting, and Danse woke up to a face full of dog tongue. Dogmeat barked as he finished licking the ex-paladin, and Nora pushed the dog away before he could greet her the same way. Preston set the duffel bag of stuff on the floor and sat down next to them, leaning against Nora.

"Hi. Took longer than I expected, I ran into some raiders and Piper wanted to know what happened," he apologised.

"Hello, Garvey." Danse said, half-asleep.

"It's 'Preston'. You know it's just Preston." The minuteman said. Dogmeat stretched out at Danse's feet, tail flopping against the floor, and Danse leaned backwards across Preston's lap, turning so his face was buried in the other man's middle.

"So this is how we're sleeping tonight?" Preston asked. Danse nodded. The minuteman glanced over to Nora, who dropped her head onto his shoulder, eyes shut. "That works." He said, and closed his eyes as well. They'd work on getting Danse outside later.


	2. Sleeping Habits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drabble centring around the romanceable companions and a lot of head-canons about sleeping habits. Plus bonus Nick Valentine because I can.

The air was cold, and the only bright lights were from the spotlights outside. Strong and Codsworth were patrolling, Dogmeat was somewhere else as well, and inside there was a small room with eight beds shoved together. Danse was on his stomach, reading one of the covert ops manuals Nora picked up, Nora was lying with her head on his back, holding Piper's hand as the reporter spooned Cait.

The glow of Nick's eyes came from the edge of the room, where he sat in silence, going through more of his case files. Hancock was leaning against him, Curie draped over him and trying to have a quiet conversation with Preston, who had switched hats with MacCready and was lying on the edge of the bed, hanging onto the sniper in question. 

The two would fall off sometime that night, they always did. At that point Cait would mumble something incoherent and curse-filled, and Danse would reach for one of the two to pull them back onto the bed. Curie would ask them softly if they were both all right, because she had medical supplies in case they hurt themselves, to which both of them would reassure her that they were fine. Hancock would sit up, look around and then go back to sleep, Nora would say something about getting another bed so the issue would be solved, and Piper would sleep through the whole thing.

It was silent, and relatively peaceful. They didn't often get to do this, sleeping in a massive pile. Nora would be out doing things with one of them, Preston would call on someone else to help a settlement, and others would have to patrol or help with settlers' caravans. Each of them knew that there was always a chance, always that possibility, however slim, that some wouldn't make it back. Eventually, one or more just wouldn't return. They all knew this, and they all ignored it. Better to pretend they were immortal than to accept that they'd someday lose more people they loved.

A strange thought, loving the entire group of misfits the Vault dweller had brought together. Nora took in three synths, a super mutant, a ghoul, a dog, a former mayor-turned-mercenary, a reporter, her robot and a cage fighter into her home. She insisted that the Institute synth and the Railroad agent were also part of their fucked-up family, to which Danse had said something about 'black sheep' and Cait had told Nora that if they were family too, she wasn't getting them presents.

MacCready was asleep. And snoring. Loudly. Again. It was something of an oddity in his mind, that he snored. It didn't make much sense, since he lived on the move in the Wasteland for years, so anything listening would be able to hear him. Nick said the fact that he survived at all was surprising being the little shit he was, when the topic had come up.

One or more of them would wake up to nightmares. It was inevitable. Others would wake up too, grabbing for the sufferer and forming an even tighter huddle. It was often Preston who bit down screams and visions of Quincy, to be pulled in by Cait and held by Curie. 

MacCready woke to feral ghouls and dying family, Cait to memories of slavery and cruel parents. Nora saw her family torn from her, Danse the barrel of a gun and his dead friends. 

Hancock said he never dreamed, though he'd wake up to Curie and Nick holding him and he'd hurriedly whisper something about bad drugs and bad memories and an awful feeling of regret. 

Piper swore up and down she didn't have nightmares, but she too woke up in the night. Cait and Nora were often there, sometimes Curie, sometimes Preston, occasionally Danse or MacCready, but someone would be there to listen if she wanted to share the images of Nat doing what she had done and memories of her many, many botched attempts at journalism. 

Nick slept occasionally, though it was less sleep and more temporarily shutting down.

In the morning Danse would wake up first, but stay still since he'd be in the middle of their pile. Nick would leave, Hancock following to begin making something for breakfast. It would often be most of the previous night's dinner and old coffee. Cait and Piper would slowly get up, followed by Curie, and finally Nora would open her eyes, sit up and leave without a sound. Danse would then get up, leaving Preston and MacCready to wake up last.

They'd have those on night watch join them, though Strong would refuse their 'human food' and supply his own, mainly whole radstags or brahmin and Dogmeat would share with him. Codsworth would take the coffee, berate the preparers for not notifying him because he was _more than capable of fixing them breakfast_ _thank you very much_ , and then proceed to pour coffee for everyone.

Nora would take one of them, often Curie, with her on her various wanderings, and Preston would take one of them, often Danse, with him on his various settlement missions. Cait would take Piper out to help find more salvage, MacCready would head out with Dogmeat to patrol. Strong would wander off on his own patrols, Nick and Hancock would stay behind to work on sorting through the absolute landfill Nora collected. Codsworth would provide assistance with said sorting, and one or more of their groups would return to work on the settlement itself until dark.

At the moment, though, they lay in their dark bed-filled room in various states of unconsciousness. There were no attacking raiders, no important missions from groups, just nine people in their home together.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'd just like to mention that in scrivener you're able to title each document. i don't title anything properly, it's strings of letters and incomprehensible code.
> 
> this one was titled 'curiebae'.

"So, you're not just a trash can on the outside, you're a trash can on the inside as well, huh?" Danse was just trying to have a drink. Or five. He was trying to sit alone, in the top of the shamble Nora called a commons and drink the beer he'd found. But the freak--Hancock-- wouldn't leave him alone, sitting next to him, the ghoul's back to the counter, leaning against it casually.

"What do you mean by that, ghoul?" He felt small without his power armour. Nora had coerced him into coming to Sanctuary so she could go deal with Elder Maxson, so he was stuck in the settlement until she returned. He was still without his power armour, though, even if she'd told him she'd look for it on the Prydwen.

"I mean you not only insist on wearing the loudest fucking contraption in the whole Commonwealth, but you're also the loudest fucking contraption in the whole damn Commonwealth."

"If you mean to state that I am a synth who uses power armour, then that is a fact. Leave me alone." Danse glared at the ghoul, who simply grinned back.

"Why? Nothing else is happening. So, how long were you going to wait before telling us?"

"I didn't know."

"Sure, sure. I would have thought it was obvious, though, what with you having as much emotion as a coffee can and lumbering around in a coffee can, living on a massive metal murder blimp surrounded by other people in coffee cans--"

"Can you stop?" Danse snapped.

"Was that a pun?" Hancock looked genuinely curious. The ex-paladin just glared at him. His gaze softened as he turned to Curie as she stepped silently up the stairs.

"Monsieur Hancock, might I ask you what you are doing?"

"Trying to have a normal conversation with this guy."

"Apologies, but I did not realise hitting ones insecurities was a good topic of conversation."

"Well when you put it that way--" Hancock started.

"Perhaps I could speak with him? I have been looking for him anyway." Hancock nodded and left, and Curie smiled at Danse. "I would like it if we were somewhere more private. Follow me?" She led him down the stairs and across the street into her own house, which doubled as the settlement's doctor's office.

"What do you need, Curie?" She motioned for him to sit in one of the chairs by a small table.

"I am concerned, monsieur Danse. About, well, you."

"I am not injured, Curie."

"I have consulted many texts, and all I have found state that… rude awakenings cause mental trauma in the subject." She frowned, working through her thoughts, "I am concerned that your worldview has shifted. You have been isolating yourself, and I have not seen you eat anything for three days."

"A machine doesn't need to eat."

"But a Danse does! I see that you are struggling with who you are, and that reaction is within acceptable parameters, but your actions in dealing with this newfound information cause concern."

"It shouldn't be a concern, Curie. I'm just a machine, I--" Danse started, and Curie stood up, doing her best to tower over him.

"You are not just a machine!" She said sharply, "You are not just yourself! What I mean to say is-- these words are not coming out properly-- I am Curie, yes? My body is Curie, my former body was also Curie. However, it is my mind that is also Curie, my personality, my emotions, my desire for knowledge, those are all Curie! Therefore, I am not just my body, I am my mind, and to use medically inaccurate terminology, I am also what I feel in my heart." She smiled, "You are Danse. You are not just your body, but your mind--"

"Cogs and switches--"

"Your personality--"

"Something that is programmed and wiped at a moment's notice--"

"Your emotions--"

"Again, programs--"

"Paladin Danse, your behaviour is unacceptable! You are a machine, yes, but you are also a person, you are a good man and your attitude towards yourself is not fair!" Curie shouted at him, hurt on her face. Danse fell silent as she continued in a quieter tone, 

"Listen to me, please. You are experiencing extreme confusion and you do not know what to do, I understand this. But you are hurting yourself, and you are going to get yourself hurt. You don't have to be alone, monsieur Danse. Your friends are worried about you, they want to help you."

"What friends are you talking about?"

"Those of us in Sanctuary, of course."

"I have been rude and dismissive of every single one of them since the moment I arrived here, I am not friends with any of them."

"You are friends with me, yes?" Danse slowly nodded.

"I'm friends with you, however the only other one I've been anywhere decent to is the dog."

"That is true, yes. But still, you have friends here. Please do not isolate yourself, Danse. I wish to help you."

"If you feel this strongly about my actions, fine. I will stop avoiding the others." Curie held out a hand, gently tugging him to his feet.

"If you feel comfortable, come over to the lounge?" 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one was labeled 'nora no', which is the summation of most of the characters i write  
> substitute the name for anyone else it still works

MacCready thought he'd had a pretty good spot on the old highway. Hell, he did have a pretty good spot on the highway. Twenty Gunners were down because of him and he still had three magazines left. Nora was somewhere in the middle of the fighting, if the unusual amount of molotov cocktails and shrieking mercenaries was any indication.

It was going well, up until the guy in power armour found him.

MacCready saw him too late, and the only escape route was onto the highway or over the edge towards the ground fifty feet below. Barnes made the choice for him. The man grabbed the back of his duster and threw him forward, down onto the highway. His rifle was out of reach, clattering to the ground behind an assaultron. He scrambled to his feet, running the opposite direction as Barnes landed behind him. At that point he noticed the many, many mines on the ground and slid to a stop, looking for Nora. She was charging towards him, wearing Winlock's power armour. A blast to the head dropped Barnes and she was grabbing MacCready, hoisting him over her shoulder and charging past the assaultron, grabbing the rifle and heading for the edge of the highway.

"What are you doing? What are you-- Turn around what the f-- heck are you doing?" MacCready twisted around as she neared the ledge.

"There's a whole lot of mines back there! The assaultron is the last to go, which means if it steps on the mines it's gone-- this is our daring escape." She said, tossing a grenade behind her and launching off of the highway. There was a series of loud explosions accompanied by falling concrete, and the air was forced out of MacCready's lungs when they hit the ground.

"Nora, that highway's coming down--" She immediately took off, charging through the woods and along the old roads away from the collapsing interstate. "You can put me down-- Nora I can walk-- what the hell- heck- are you doing--"

"There's a raider camp nearby and I can hear vertibirds." Nora didn't stop running.

 

There was screaming over the bridge. Preston charged his musket, heading towards the guard tower. The gate flew open as Nora charged through, still carrying MacCready. She slowed to a stop outside the workshop, finally setting the mercenary down.

"Can you never do that again? While I appreciate the sentiment, I'd really like to know beforehand if you're going to carry me whaile running for three miles." He took his rifle and Nora exited the power armour.

"Danse!" She shouted. The ex-paladin emerged from the farm, covered in dirt. "I got you a set of power armour!"

"I already have the one I arrived in."

"Yeah, but now you have a choice."

"She jumped off a highway, please accept the gift." MacCready said quickly, and headed towards the building where his bed was.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kississ. spelled exactly that way.

Nora tackles Preston when she sees him after working with settlements, planting kisses on his face. He returns them and she picks him up, spinning him around as she tells him that the settlers are safe, the beacon's been planted, and he laughs and gives her another mission.

She's gentler with Danse, simply kissing his forehead, whether it's by pulling on his power armour to bring his head to her height or by simply walking over to him. When they're alone he sits on her, and she kisses his neck and shoulders as well.

Cait gets kisses on the lips and neck, accompanied by teasing words. They're in bars and under highways, in caves and in towns. Each one is a happy reminder of Nora's utter love. 

Piper gets hers on her nose and cheeks, and questions about her newest leads. Simple dinners in quiet rooms, and the two up against each other, talking about Piper's work.

Curie's are gentle and tender, soft and accompanied by caresses and loving words. Curie will be working on her experiments and Nora will sneak up on her, asking her questions about what she's doing.

MacCready gets hasty kisses on the battlefield mostly, quick pecks as Nora runs by under a hail of bullet fire. He returns them afterwards, hugging her tightly. It's a game for them, passing those bits of affection.

Hancock's are tongue and teeth and reserved for private rooms and low lighting. Almost bites and quiet curses and laughing.

Dogmeat, of course, gets friendly smooches on his head, after he's done well in a fight or Nora's returned after a while. 

Nora takes Nick's more human hand, giving him a silent, chaste kiss on the cheek after they've killed Eddie Winter and are standing where the real Nick's fiancee was murdered. It's a thanks for his help and a promise that she's his friend, and friends help each other. 

She kisses Codsworth on his dome before she leaves for the Institute in a silent farewell. He shrugs it off, telling her he's always her faithful companion, and she reminds him that he's family. He's always been.

She kisses Strong's knuckles after he saves her in a firefight, earning utter confusion from him. She explains that it's the only thing she can think of to give as thanks, and he tells her that it's not a useful thing to give.

Deacon gets one on the cheek as well, after he's told his story and she believed him. He gets the occasional one afterwards, on the hand, but keeps the first as a precious memory.

X6's is after she's destroyed the Institute, they're alone in a ruined store and she kisses his hand, telling him he can leave and she won't follow. He stays.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'tiny mac'.  
> also this is the point where delilah and this nora are merging because i'm working through character details and that's what happens. cool.

MacCready was thin, nothing but wiry muscle and bones. So it wasn't much of a surprise that Danse, even being several inches shorter, could still throw him over a shoulder and take off running. It was useful when they were outnumbered and outgunned, as Danse was faster than most of the others in Sanctuary.

However, Nora had the habit of picking people up and carrying them for no reasons other than the only one taller than her was Strong, she was solidly built and she took great pleasure in it. Which meant no one was safe from her impromptu bridal carries. Hancock loved it, throwing himself into her arms, while Danse tried to escape every time. She would carry both Piper and Cait at once, Cait on her shoulders and Piper in her arms.

MacCready was on the top of a ruined highway, much higher than he'd prefer, watching as Nora swept around the rubble, pocketing as much trash as she could carry.

"I'm almost out of room in my pockets." She called. MacCready nodded stiffly, knowing she was about to hand him most of the junk and then run off in search of more. "I'm gonna have to drop some of it I think." She sounded put out.

"We have more screws than we know what to do with." MacCready told her.

"Shut up Mac, I know that."

"Then why the fu-heck do you insist on hoarding everything you can grab?"

"Impulse." Came the simple reply. MacCready frowned, turning away. If she hurried up they could get off the rusting death-bridge before dark. If not MacCready was going to refuse to leave. The edge was too close, the drop too far, and any missteps in the dark would mean a long fall and a messy end.

He screamed as he was hoisted into the air and spun around, the thick arms around his middle holding him tight.

"What the fuck is your problem we could fall off!" He screamed. They couldn't, they were a good twenty feet from the edge, the rational part of his brain said.

"I missed you." Came Nora's insufferable answer.

"What the-- you were ten feet away!"

"What better way to fix my missing you then?"

"Not picking me up?" MacCready twisted around, hooking his legs around Nora's hips and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. She grinned, kissing his nose.

"You're so small." She smiled fondly.

"Literally everyone is small for you, you're six-five or some sh- crap." MacCready said flatly, but smiled as she kissed his cheek.

"True, but you're so holdable."

"You're not putting me down, are you?"

"Nope." She began walking toward the elevator, and MacCready buried his face in her chest, holding tightly to her as the rickety platform descended. Nora knelt down on the platform, keeping the brunt of the wind from hitting them.

"Can we please tackle Preston when we get back? Pick him up over our heads and just run?" MacCready asked.

"If you think we're coordinated enough for that, sure." Nora replied.

"Your house is closest, if I take his feet and you his head we can make it."

"Good plan. And then?"

"We throw him on the bed for a mini puddle."

"Pile." Nora said shortly.

"Look, you called it a puddle the first time, it's a puddle." The elevator reached the ground and Nora stood up, still holding MacCready.

"Can you carry me to Sanctuary?"

"Why?" He leaned forward, kissing her forehead.

"A tragic accident. I was swept off my feet so hard my legs no longer work." MacCready leaned backward, swooning. Nora kissed his neck.

"Dork." Was the only response he got.

 

Upon reaching Sanctuary, Sturges opened the gate and the two ran inside, throwing their packs towards the workbench and charging Preston. The minuteman didn't have time to react as Nora lunged for him, knocking him off-balance as MacCready grabbed his ankles. The two hoisted him over their heads and ran for the house MacCready shared with Cait, Piper, Nick and Hancock.

"Hello to you too-- watch the door!" Preston said sharply as they ran inside, heading for Nora's bed and dumping Preston on it. Nora was immediately on top of him, hugging him tightly as MacCready landed on top of her.

"I've always wanted to be crushed by an over exuberant woman and her sniper boyfriend."

"Your over exuberant girlfriend and our sniper boyfriend, you mean." Nora said, kissing his cheek. "This one decided to make me carry him back to Sanctuary, did you know?"

"Is he in the room? I thought it was just you on top of me."

"Hey!" MacCready said.

"Yeah, you're too little for me to tell." Preston said as MacCready crawled over Nora to stare down at the other man.

"You take that back." MacCready told him.

"Or what?" Preston grinned as MacCready thought for a minute, "You can't do anything, if you tried to tackle me on your own you'd bounce right off." Preston started to say more but MacCready kissed him, sliding off of Nora onto the floor. Nora sat up, grinning at the two before getting off the bed.

"Have fun you two." She said, leaving as MacCready straddled Preston.

 

Piper jumped onto Nora's back as she approached the makeshift office they'd put together. Nick's desk was in one corner, with piles of case files burying the old wood. Piper's desk was marginally neater, and her hastily-constructed printing press was outside under a shelter. Nora stepped into the office, waving to Nick as she spun around, depositing Piper at her desk.

"That's a pretty good talent there, Blue. Makes me wonder how agile you are other places too."

"Not in front of the old man, Piper." Nick said from the other side of the room. Piper snorted, hugging Nora.

"It's all right, Nicky, you can trust me."

"Oh I do. It's her I'm worried about."

"And here I thought my saving your ass from gangsters was a good trust-building exercise." Nora chided him, grinning.

"Look, I do appreciate your willingness to jump right in and help me out. I just think your sense of decency could use some work." Nora snorted, fluffing Piper's hair.

"I'm heading over to the commons. Deacon brought back noodles." Nora told the reporter and ran out.

 

"Danse why are you sitting alone?" Nora asked. The commons was a two-story building, with a dining hall on the second floor. It was arranged in such a way that there was one table that had a single chair and the radio on it, while picnic tables lined the middle and there were old card tables in the other corners. Danse was at the table with the radio.

"Sticks in the mud get the shame table, you know the rules." Hancock said, wrapping his arms around Nora and kissing her, trying to make out in front of Danse.

"And addict ghouls get reprimanded." Danse muttered.

"Those at the shame table have to watch the boss get it on without them, you should know that." Hancock didn't look at Danse, but Nora picked him up, settling him so he sat on her hip, with one arm looped around him to keep him up. She kissed Danse's forehead, the ghoul trying to smack his head as Nora moved away, depositing him next to the bowls of noodles.

"You doing all right?" She asked, heading back over to Danse.

"I am doing well." Came the stiff reply. She dragged a chair over to him, sitting down and leaning against him, smiling.

"Hancock getting to you?" She asked.

"Yes."

"Hey, it's all part of operation Make Danse Cool, big guy." Hancock called from the other end of the room.

"I'm shorter than you are." Danse said.

"But you wear the toaster suit, so that makes you--"

"Oh cool, it's my favourite kids. Hey Whisper." Deacon appeared next to Hancock, leaning against him casually as he greeted Nora. "Hope you like the noodles, I made them myself. By hand."

"You got them from Takahashi's, Deacon. Curie went with you." Danse said.

"There's a reason you end up at the shame table, Danse." Deacon told him.

 

Dinner was loud and wild. Cait ended up sitting on the table, resting her legs on Deacon, while Hancock continued his plan to annoy Danse by sitting next to him and asking him lewd questions.

"So have you ever had a blow job?" Hancock asked loudly as Danse turned red and Piper attempted to keep eating her noodles with a straight face. Preston sighed, leaning against MacCready. They'd switched hats again.

"Ever been boned?"

"Go away." Danse said. Dogmeat made off with one of the discarded bowls and Curie ran after him.

"Yeah, but here's the thing-- if Nora were to offer, would you--"

"Please stop." Nora said quickly, scooting closer to Danse.

"Sure thing, babe." Hancock conceded, but mimed a penis going into a hole with his hands. Danse flushed a deeper red than before.

"Oh monsieur Danse! You are sunburnt!" Curie was at his shoulder, checking him with concern.

"It's not a sunburn, Curie, I'm fine." He said quickly.

"If you are sure, then. Do you mind if I sit here?" She asked. Danse shook his head and she slid next to him resting her head on his shoulder. "You make such a wonderful pillow." She told him, looking confused by Hancock's laughter.

"There is no way to make that sexual." Danse said flatly.

"There's a way to make everything sexual." Came the ghoul's reply.


End file.
